Apparatus for cleaning containers



15, 1936. J. G. CARRIERE ET A1.

APPARATUS FVOR CLEANING CONTAINERS Filed Aug. so, 1935 Patented Dec. 15,1936 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS Fon CLEANING CONTAINERSApplication August 3o, 1935, serial No. 38,536 y 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the cleaning of contalners which have beenused for holding liquid hydrocarbon material. As an example of these maybe mentioned the compartments of tank ships, railroad tank cars, tanktrucks and storage tanks. l

These containers are used in large numbers for the transportation andstorage of such hydrocarbons as gasoline, kerosene, lubricating oil,fuel oil. crude oil, acetone, benzol and other products.

It sometimes becomes necessary that the same vessels be used for a`different product than previously. In such cases it is necessary thatthe vessel be thoroughly cleaned before the new product is run in, inorder to avoid contamination.

This is especially true where a tank previously used for dark coloredproducts is used for water white products or where a white product ofvery strict specications as to purity has to be stored or shipped.

'I'he present system of cleaning the tanks involves a long and laboriousprocess. The first operation is generally to steam out the tanks withopen steam and thereafter to scrape and rinse them with kerosene orgasoline.

Besides the labor involved the above method of cleaning has not beenentirely satisfactory as certain gums, polymerized petroleum products,asphaltic material, etc., lodged in seams, corners, valves and otherinaccessible places are not removed.

The residue often becomes dislodged at a later time thus contaminatingthe product often to such an extent as to' cause its rejection by thecustomer. y

Especially is this true where products such as amyl acetate used in themanufacture of photographic lms and other like products are shipped.With such products it isessential that high stapdards of purity bemaintained.

It is a purpose of this invention to devise a process of cleaningcontainers which will be less laborious than those heretofore employed.

It is another object of this invention to devise a process for thecleaning of tanks which will be more effective than those previouslyused. It is a further object of this invention to devise apparatus forcarrying out the above process.

The further objects of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of my invention throughout whichreference is made to the accompanying drawing which illustrates aparticular embodiment of the invention.

Figure I is a plan view of a dome attachment for a tank car.

Figure II is an end elevation of the dome attachment.

Figure III is an elevation of tank car partly in section showingcleaning operation.

Referring to Figures I and II the device of my 5 invention comprises asteel or other metallic plate I adapted to t the top opening of the domeof a railroad tank car. The outer edge of the dome cover is providedwith a number of slots 2 adapted to receive the upper ends of swingbolts the lower l0 ends of which are attachedvto the dome of the tankcar as is a usual construction. Passing thru the plate I and securedthereto are two pipes 3 and 4 which are of sufficient length to extendto the bottom of the tank car when the plate is in 15 position on thetop of the dome. Attached to the lower end of the pipes.3 and 4 is aflat coil of pipe 5, the ends of which are joined to the ends of thepipes 3 and 4 so as to form a complete circuit. The coil 5 is of Suchshape that it will read- 20 ily pass through the opening in the top ofthe dome of a tank car and is so arranged that the face of the coil ishorizontal when in position.

To the edge of the plate I a wire 6 is connected the purpose of whichwill be hereinafter explained.

Into the top of the plate I a T fitting l is screwed, the upper arms ofwhich are connected to a pressure gauge 8 and a safety valve 9respectively.

The method of operation with the above described apparatus is betterunderstood with reference to Figure III in which I0 is a railroad tankcar requiring cleaning.

The procedure is as follows:the dome cover of the tank car is removedand a suitable amount of solvent, for example acetone is run into thetank car. The device shown in Figures I and II is lowered into place.The plate I is first grounded by connecting the wire 6 with which theplate is provided to the frame of the loading rack cr to 40 the railroadtrack. 'I'he plate I is then fastened into position by means of theswing bolts with which the tank car dome is fitted. The pipe 3 isconnectedby means of flexible hose II to a steam line I2 provided with avalve I3. 'Ihe pipe 4 is connected to a steam return line I4 having asteam pressure gauge I5 and steam trap I6. 'I'his steam line I4 may leadto other tank cars being cleaned or may connect with a steam condensingsystem. After all the connections have been tightened the steam isturned on at valve I 3. The steam passes through the coil 5 which issubmerged in the acetone, and heats the acetone so that part of itvaporizes. The vapor upon reaching the shell of the tank car condensesthereon.

The acetone readily removes all the foreign matter, which together withthe condensed acetone vapors runs down the sides of the tank car andcollects in the bottom. This action continues as long as steam passesthrough the coil. By regulation of the pressure of steam in the coil theamount of heat imparted to the acetone can be controlled. This in turnaffects the pressure inside the tank which may be read from pressuregauge 8.

After a sufficient length of time, the steam is turned off. The drainleg I1 of the tank car is then connected to a storage tank and uponopening a valve in the drain leg the acetone and foreign matter areremoved from the tank car. The acetone can be recovered from thematerial removed from the tank car by distillation. As a speciiicexample of working conditions I have found that when cleaning a tank carof 8000 gallons capacity that if 500 gallons of acetone are run in, andthe pressure maintained in the tank at 15 lbs.V per square inch that intwenty-four hours the tank is rendered perfectly clean so that thepurest products can be safely shipped.

With the process above described fresh acetone is continually contactingthe foreign matter on the Walls, no matter how dirty the acetone in thebottom of the tank becomes, for as the acetone has a much lower boilingpoint than the matter removed from the walls, it alone will bevaporized. In this way, it will be'seen that the same acetone is usedagain and again in a pure state.

While we have described our process with reference to the cleaning of arailroad tank car using acetone, it should be understood that theprocess may be applied to other containers and that a solvent other thanacetone may be used as for example, other ketones such as methyl ethylketone.

We claim as our invention:

1. An apparatus for use in the cleaning of tank cars provided withdomes, comprising a plate adapted to t the dome opening in the top of atank car, inlet and outlet pipes passing through said plate and attachedthereto, a pipe coil attached to the lower ends of said pipes, said coilbeing adapted to lie along the bottom of said tank car and to be readilyremovable from said tank car through` said opening, a pressure gauge anda safety valve mounted in said plate.

2. An apparatus for use in the cleaning of tank cars provided withdomes, comprising a plate adapted to t the dome opening in the top of atank car, inlet and outlet pipes passing through said plate and attachedthereto, a pipe coil attached to the lower ends of said pipes, said coilbeing adapted to lie near the bottom of said tank car and to be readilyremovable from said tank car through said opening, a steam trapconnected to said outlet pipe, a steam line connected to said inlet pipeand a. grounding clamp attached to said plate.

JOHN G. CARRIERE. LUDWIG ROSENSTEIN.

